


Branching Memories

by Timeline15



Series: Ghosts and Angels [3]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adventure, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27174928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timeline15/pseuds/Timeline15
Summary: Seeking information that might give them a chance of retrieving Queen Angella, Glimmer and her team take an expedition back to the one place they'd least like to be: Horde Prime's ship.
Relationships: Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Series: Ghosts and Angels [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1848541
Comments: 7
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a sequel to a one-shot of mine: P.A.L.S. While not strictly necessary, it might be worth reading that one first, if you haven't already.

“Thank you for coming everyone” Bow announced to the room as he stood beside the large projector screen.

The term “everyone” was stretching it a bit, as the audience in front of him consisted only of Glimmer, Entrapta, and Hordak. Nonetheless, they all sat up straighter in silent respect for his authority (aside from Hordak, who in characteristic fashion had been sitting rigidly straight the entire time, still uncomfortable with social gatherings involving anyone who wasn’t explicitly his underling).

“And now, without further ado…” Bow continued “I hereby call the first meeting of the P.A.L.S to order!” Entrapta whooped and applauded, while Hordak simply sat in attentive silence.

Glimmer was practically vibrating with excitement in her chair, to the point that she had to make a concerted effort not to emit any sparkles. It had only been a few days since Bow had revealed the ‘Princess Angella Liberation Society’ to her, and she had tried to avoid getting her hopes up too high, but being in a room with three geniuses actively discussing how to bring her mother back; it was too much to ignore. She joined in with Entrapta’s applause in as composed a manner as she could, until Bow raised a hand to quite them.

“So” Bow went on, turning his gaze to Hordak “we’ve all been working hard on the Angella project since we last spoke, and I understand that Hordak here has a potential lead.”

The former Horde leader rose from his chair as he was acknowledged. “Indeed I do. Entrapta and I have discussed the possibility at length, and I have a proposal to make regarding how we move forward.”

“You have the floor Hordak” Bow replied with a smile, strolling back to his own seat and gesturing for Hordak to assume his place at the screen. Hordak did so, walking to his place with a posture so rigid that one would think he was about to give a speech to a crowd of three thousand, rather than just three.

“This is what I propose” Hordak began, his tone commanding despite his nerves. Pressing the button on his remote, he called up a slide on the screen, producing an image which was unmistakeable to all in attendance; Horde Prime’s ship, or at least, the large tree that had consumed much of its structure.

“Prime lived for thousands of years; a feat that was not achievable with just one body. Whenever a vessel grew too old to sustain him, he simply transferred his consciousness into a newer vessel, abandoning the old one. However, rather than being disposed of, the old vessels were retained, and stored in stasis tanks on-board his ship.”

“That’s fascinating Hordak” Bow cut in “but I don’t understand how that helps us with our project.”

“It helps…” Hordak began, a smile creeping onto his face “because of the _reason_ these vessels were retained. Over the course of his lifespan, Prime accrued more memories than could feasibly be stored in a single brain. As a result, whenever he transferred into a new vessel, he was forced to leave a portion of his memories behind in his old body. _I,_ like all of Prime’s clones, still possess a neural interface port, meaning that I should be able to access the memories of his vessels.”

Bow’s eyes widened as he put the pieces together “…Including the memories concerning the Horde’s portal technology!”

“Exactly” Hordak answered with pride. “Back when I was first created, the Horde made frequent use of dimensional portal technology far more advanced than anything Entrapta and I were able to create, but that technology had seemingly fallen out of use by the time Prime returned. Etheria was freed from Despondos only via the use of First Ones’ technology; Prime never attempted to do so himself. He likely forgot _how_ to do so long ago.”

“Then that means…” Bow spoke, so quietly as to clearly be talking almost entirely to himself.

“That we need only find one of Prime’s vessels whose age corresponds to the time period when the Horde’s portal tech was in use, and download its knowledge into me” Hordak answered, completing Bow’s thought. “That information would greatly expedite our work on building a machine capable of retrieving the queen.”

Glimmer could barely stand still. She wasn’t sure at what point during Hordak’s explanation she had subconsciously got to her feet, but she was now buzzing with enough excitement that she didn’t much care.

“Hordak, that’s great!” she exclaimed with a beaming smile. “How soon can we leave?” She knew that there would be preparation involved of course, but the feeling of a concrete first step towards saving her mother finally being put in place made her eager to get on the road as soon as possible.

“Darla is pretty much space-worthy, so we can probably get going within the week” Entrapta replied, already giddy at the prospect of another space flight.

“Alright then” said Bow, his tone commanding and inspiring in equal measure. “Let’s do this.”

Entrapta’s estimates proved (of course) to be correct, and Darla was ready to make the trip after just a few short days of maintenance.

Glimmer paced excitedly as Hordak finished loading the last of the supplies on board. Prime’s old ship was only just out of Etheria’s orbit, so realistically it wasn’t going to be a long trip, but the group wanted to be prepared for any eventuality. They didn’t know how long they might actually have to spend searching the ship; there was no telling how many of Prime’s bodies they’d have to sift through, or indeed how well timestamped they were.

“There” Hordak grunted as he emerged empty handed, having loaded the last crate. “The ship is now fully stocked. We have enough food to stay up there for weeks if necessary.”

“Ooh, I’m sorry we’re making you carry so much Darla” Entrapta crooned, stroking a section of the ship’s hull “but I promise it’s for a good cause. Also…” she added, her expression shifting to what Glimmer could only describe as sultry “I’ll definitely make it up to you on the way.”

“Ahem” Hordak theatrically coughed into his hand. “We should probably get going as soon as possible. I’m certain the queen is excited at the prospect of being reunited with her mother; there’s no sense delaying our work any further.” The former Horde leader shot Glimmer an imploring look; one which, under the circumstances, she was all too happy to answer.

“Yeah! Hordak’s right.” (That still felt odd to say.) “We should get on-board. Bow’s already waiting for us on the bridge.”

The three headed up the boarding ramp, Hordak shooting Glimmer a look which she imagined was the closest thing to “thank you” he was capable of. Bow was, as she had predicted, waiting for them on the bridge, already in the pilot seat. Thankfully, one of the modifications that had been made to Darla since the end of the war was the installation of more chairs on the bridge, so everyone was able to take a seat at one of the consoles.

“You guys ready to head off?” Bow asked with a smile.

“Oh, you know it” Glimmer beamed excitedly.

“Then let’s go get our first P.A.L.S mission started!” Bow replied, pushing forwards against the holographic interface in front of him. Darla lifted upwards off the launch pad, and within seconds was shooting up into the atmosphere.

On the screen to her left, Glimmer, watched Etheria shrink behind them, until it was just about far enough away that the curvature of its surface could be seen. Despite having been to space before, the sight was still incredible to her. Her people hadn’t even known space travel was a possibility until very recently, and here she was, looking down on their entire world. The instant that the ship cleared Etheria’s atmosphere, putting an end to the turbulence that had kept her in her seat, Glimmer got up and made her way to one of the viewing ports to get a better look. The view was just as breath-taking the second time, and she suspected it wouldn’t get any less so, no matter how many times she ended up going to space.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been staring out at the view when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She quickly looked up to see Bow standing over her. She hadn’t even noticed him leaving the pilot’s seat. She also hadn’t noticed the departure of Hordak and Entrapta, who had left the bridge entirely, presumably to tinker with something or other. Evidently even a flight as short as this one was too long for Entrapta’s attention span.

“Hey” Bow said with a soft smile, his thumb gently stroking her shoulder “you doing okay?”

“Yeah, I think so” Glimmer replied. “It’s just… well, being in space is still weird for one thing, but also… it doesn’t feel great going back to Prime’s ship.”

Bow’s smile faded instantly as he shifted from jovial to sympathetic in the way that only he could. “Yeah… I can imagine that might be weird for you. Heck, _I_ don’t feel great about going back there, and he never held _me_ prisoner.”

“Yeah, not one of my fondest memories” Glimmer concurred, subconsciously wrapping her arms around herself. Even now, she still had mornings where her half-asleep brain would think she was waking up in that cell, only to breathe a sigh of relief when she realised she was back in her room in Brightmoon.

Seeing the look on her face, Bow was quick to comfort her, taking hold of both of her hands and bringing them together as he crouched down to meet her gaze. “This time though, things are different” he said with a reassuring smile. “No-one’s a prisoner this time. We’re going back there _by choice_ , to undo one of the last bits of damage the war caused.”

“Yeah” Glimmer smiled back, feeling her anxiety subside to a much more manageable level “you’re right.”

The rest of the trip passed quickly after that. Glimmer and Bow sat in each other’s arms, gazing out of the viewing port and pointing out the prettiest star formations. They were distracted enough that it took the automated reminder from Darla to let them know that they were approaching their destination.

“Well, time to get to work” Bow sighed, retaking the pilot seat to guide the ship in manually. Darla would likely have been more than capable of docking with the Velvet Glove herself, but given the damage the Horde’s former mothership had sustained after being turned into a giant tree, Bow thought it best not to take any chances. In the end, a brief burst of weapons fire was necessary to clear some of the foliage off the Velvet Glove’s docking port, but they were able to dock without any major incident.

“C’mon, we should get going” Bow said, looking more than a little pleased with his piloting work “Hordak and Entrapta should be waiting for us at the airlock.”

The pair quickly made their way to the ship’s airlock, eager to get their mission over and done with as quickly as possible. When they entered, Entrapta and Hordak were already waiting for them. Entrapta was in the process of trying to thread her hair through the holes in her helmet (Glimmer was still unsure of the wisdom behind that design choice), while Hordak simply was crouched in the corner, taking inventory of the group’s supply bags.

“Um… Hordak, shouldn’t you be wearing a suit?” asked Glimmer. “I’m sure Entrapta must have made some in your size.”

“That will not be necessary” Hordak replied bluntly. “My brothers and I are more than capable of surviving in a variety of hostile environments, limited exposure to a vacuum. Even if the Velvet Glove’s life support systems are offline, I will be able to function without protection for a number of weeks.”

“Oh… wow, okay” Glimmer replied, wondering just how much modification Hordak’s species had put themselves through to make such a feat possible.

“Nonetheless” Hordak continued, unaware of Glimmer’s train of thought “your concern is… appreciated.”

“Don’t mention it” Glimmer responded, trying not to appear too taken aback by the former warlord’s uncharacteristic display of gratitude. Entrapta flashed Hordak a ‘thumbs up’ with one large frond of hair. Evidently she had made an effort to teach Hordak a few social graces. The idea had initially struck Glimmer as a case of the blind leading the blind, but she had to admit it was clearly working.

“Alright people” Entrapta announced once everyone had had the chance to suit up “my scans show that there should be pockets of breathable atmosphere outside, but I’d recommend keeping your helmets on just in case. Wouldn’t want anyone to explosively decompress now would we?” Leave it to Entrapta to discuss the potential for horrifying death as though she was reading out a weather report.

“Okay, you guys ready to do this?” Bow asked, seeking to lift the tone.

“As ready as I’ll ever be” Glimmer replied, donning her rucksack. Hordak simply gave Bow a single, silent nod.

“Alright then” Bow said, a determined gleam appearing in his eyes. “Let’s get it done.”

As the group stood at airlock door, Entrapta raised a strand of hair and tapped the panel on the wall. A soft hissing filled the space around them as the air was pumped from the room. When it subsided, a new hiss took its place as the door’s pneumatics began to lift away the sheet of thick metal.

The door opened in a matter of moments, revealing a dimly lit corridor beyond. Some of the Velvet Glove’s internal lighting was still active, affording the group enough light to see a decent distance in front of them. From where they were stood, they could see roots and leaves snaking through the corridor, having burst through the walls in multiple places. Many of the lights that lined the walls were cracked and flickering, giving the shole place the feel of an old scary movie.

Glimmer swallowed thickly, hoping Bow didn’t notice her lingering nerves. Navigating this ship was not an appealing prospect, but it had to be done. If there was any chance, no matter how slim, that doing so would bring them closer to retrieving her mother, then it was a chance she was willing to take.

Taking Bow’s hand, she stepped out into the corridor, with Entrapta and Hordak following close behind. It was time to get to work.


	2. Chapter 2

Horde Prime’s ship had always been unpleasant. The curved walls seemed to close in on you, and the putrid green lighting hadn’t helped matters. It was almost satisfying to see the once grand monument to a dictator’s power torn to shreds by nature, its once spotless walls now buckled and ruptured by roots and branches.

Right now though, Glimmer had to admit that she would have appreciated some more functional lighting, and fewer obstructions blocking her way through the corridors. Entrapta had packed the group a selection of what could only be described as the world’s most dangerous gardening tools, for the purpose of clearing their way through the roots that now filled the majority of the corridors of Horde Prime’s ship old ship.

Even with their gadgets though, it was slow work, with the party having to stop every twenty metres or so to burn or cut their way through a new wall of leaves and wood. After many hours of work though, it seemed as though they were finally getting lose to their goal.

“Hmm” Entrapta muttered as she consulted the map on her data pad. “We’ve got a pocket of breathable atmosphere ahead. Based on the floor plan Hordak was able to program in for me, I believe that it’s the chamber where Horde Prime stored his old bodies.”

“Good” Glimmer sighed in relief “because I’m getting _really_ sick of the sight of branches”

“Not to be the bearer of bad news” Hordak interjected “but there is no guarantee that there will be any less foliage in the chamber itself. Prime kept that area of the ship well shielded yes, but given the extent of the damage to the other areas of the ship, it would be foolish to assume that it will be in pristine condition. She-Ra appears to have been rather… comprehensive in her transformation of the structure.”

“I know” Glimmer replied, failing to prevent her face from falling. “I just hope we can still get what we need.”

She remembered all too well the satisfaction she had felt watching She-Ra turn Prime’s ugly, menacing warship into a beautiful source of life. Adora had clearly wanted to bring as much new life into the world as possible; anything to counteract how much death there had been since Prime’s crusade had begun. It was a lovely idea, and even now Glimmer agreed with the sentiment, but the thought that Adora’s spur of the moment decision might have unknowingly ruined their chances of rescuing her mother sat heavily in her chest.

“Buuut we won’t know until we try, will we?” Bow cut in, sporting a grin that seemed ever so slightly artificial “so how about we get in there and have a look? Prime had so many bodies that even if we don’t find the exact knowledge we’re looking for, _something_ in there is bound to make our jobs easier, right?”

Hordak opened his mouth to offer a rebuttal, but Bow gestured subtly in Glimmer’s direction, and shot the former Horde ruler a glance that told him that this clearly wasn’t the opportune moment. Instead, he opted to simply say “Very well” and resume cutting without another word.

It took another thirty minutes or so for the group to clear their way to the entrance to the ‘vessel storage chamber’ as Hordak called it. By the time they cut away the final bundle of branches from the doorway, they were all very relieved to see the empty space that greeted them on the other side. The chamber was so vast that, without power, the walls and ceiling were shrouded in darkness from where they stood. The centre of the room though appeared to be mercifully clear of foliage.

After a brief, apprehensive glance at one another, the group crossed the threshold in unison, Glimmer and Bow hand-in-hand. They trod lightly, as though their presence risked setting off some sort of trap or defence mechanism. They knew this wasn’t the case; Darla’s preliminary scans had been more than enough to confirm that the Glove’s defences were entirely inert; but the imposing atmosphere of the chamber had them on edge regardless.

Once they were positioned in an open enough area, Glimmer conjured a few orbs of light, sending them floating up in various directions, hoping to clear the oppressive darkness. The sight that greeted her almost made her wish she had kept the lights off. The chamber was vast, ascending so high that the ceiling was invisible even with the added light, and descended so deep as to make looking down over the edges of the walkways a stomach-churning experience. Every available bit of wall space was covered in storage pods. Some were empty, but substantially more than half were decidedly not. The old bodies lining the walls were so numerous that they had to have carried Horde Prime through hundreds of lifetimes, perhaps thousands.

Glimmer swallowed the lump rising in her throat, and tried her hardest to tell herself that the daunting sight was actually good news. After all, if there were that many bodies, that meant there was a good chance that at least one contained the necessary knowledge to aid in the construction of a portal device, right? She glanced over to Hordak, who didn’t meet her gaze. The clone’s expression was steely, and focused exclusively on the pods lining the walls. If he was feeling any of the inner turmoil she was, he certainly wasn’t showing it.

Hordak’s eyes scanned the expanse of pods. None of them were in any way signposted, but having formerly been a part of the Horde’s hive mind meant that he still possessed all the requisite knowledge to locate the ones the group needed. Cast in the light of Glimmer’s orbs, the pods seemed to take on a violet hue, but the memory of the sickly green glow that they once gave off was still fresh in Hordak’s mind. It still felt like only yesterday that he had last stood in that very chamber, waiting at Prime’s side as the tyrant probed one of the vessels for knowledge of She-Ra.

Feeling Glimmer’s eyes on him, Hordak supressed the urge to shiver, and focused his mind on the task ahead. There was no telling how many of the pods would need to be sorted through, even if he did succeed in narrowing their search to the correct subsection. There was no sense standing around worrying about ghosts from the past while there was work to be done, and if he knew one thing, it was how to dedicate himself to a purpose.

“Come” Hordak instructed as he set off, gesturing to the others to follow. “I will direct you to the correct group of pods.”

The group followed wordlessly, though Glimmer noted that Entrapta’s face had lost its characteristic enthusiasm. After a short trip, they arrived at the section Hordak assured them coincided with the era in which the Horde’s portal tech was in regular use. Glimmer had had to teleport them up to the correct level, as the lifts that had once been used for access were long since offline. Even having narrowed the search down, it was clearly going to be a long day… or perhaps week. The walkway that stretched out in front of them must have had around two hundred pods lining the left side. The right side overlooked the abyss that was the rest of the chamber. Glimmer was very thankful that there was at least a safety rail between her and the drop.

“Entrapta, if you will assist me” Hordak began, thankfully distracting Glimmer from the dizzying height “I am ready to interface with the first vessel.”

Entrapta gave a silent nod, putting on a forced smile as she started hooking up the mental interface. For the next few minutes, the princess of Dryl scurried about to and from her backpack of tech, pulling out bundles of cables and hooking them up between her machinery and the first of the storage pods (Glimmer sincerely hoped that this level of setup wouldn’t be necessary when checking every pod, or their task was going to take even longer than she had anticipated).

Once Entrapta was done, and she could find no more final checks to distract herself with, she let out a sigh and turned to face Hordak, who was already sat waiting to be hooked up. “Y’know you don’t have to go through with this, right?” Entrapta asked, a slight tremble creeping into her usually cheerful voice. “If you’re scared, or you just don’t wanna do it, I’m sure we can find another way to-”

Hordak held up a hand, cutting her off. “I… appreciate the thought Entrapta, but I would like to proceed. As unpleasant as the thought of once again sharing my headspace with Prime, even a part of him, is, this is something I _must_ do. I should like to repair some of the damage my war did to this planet, and rescuing the queen is an important part of that.”

A small part of Glimmer wanted to rush over and hug the former Horde leader for those words, but she resisted the impulse, knowing that it would likely be even weirder for him than for her.

“All right then, if you’re sure” Entrapta replied reluctantly. “I just hate that you have to go back in there after spending so long getting used to your mind being a private place again.”

“I know” Hordak murmured, allowing his mask of confidence to slip for the first time. “I do not look forward to the experience. However, I also do not fear for my safety in the slightest. After all, _you_ will be watching over me.”

Entrapta stood open-mothed, momentarily at a loss for words. After a moment, she collected herself enough to offer a smile as she wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. “You know it” she grinned, still sniffling a little. “C’mon, I’ll get you hooked up.”

Entrapta lifted the largest of the many cables now snaking out of the pod, and carried its unused end over to Hordak. “If I’ve configured this cable correctly; and I almost certainly have; this should allow you full interfacing capability with Prime’s vessels.”

She hesitated for a moment as she brought the end of the cable up to the port on the back of Hordak’s neck. The only time said port had been used before had been by Prime. It had been an act of enslavement; violation. She was surprised when Hordak took her by the wrist, and slowly guided her had towards its destination. “It is alright Entrapta” Hordak said, more softly than she had ever heard him speak. “I trust you.”

Resisting the urge to start sobbing again, Entrapta plugged the cable into the back of Hordak’s neck with a hydraulic hiss. Hordak was surprised at how… non-invasive it felt when Entrapta did it, in comparison to Prime. Her every movement had been hesitant, silently asking for permission even when the course of action had already been agreed upon. Not too long ago, Hordak might have considered such a gingerly approach a waste of time, but now, he found it reassuring. He even ventured to think that allowing Entrapta access in future might be… enjoyable. He filed that particular thought away for later; right now he had a mission to complete.

“When is the link going to-” he began, before being cut off as a tidal wave of memories poured into his brain. For a moment, it was like he was flying down a tunnel of sickly green light; the next, he was in Prime’s throne room, sitting in his brother’s chair as two reverent clones delivered a morning report. Those reports had always been pointless, given the hive-minded nature of the Horde. Hordak suspected his brother had just enjoyed making his clones jump through hoops for his own amusement.

Before Hordak could ruminate further on the matter, he was pulled away again, this time to the battle bridge, watching on the viewscreen as a verdant planet below was transformed to a blackened wasteland by the Horde’s ground forces. Hordak felt his pulse quickening; he had experienced shared thoughts within the Horde before, but this was another experience entirely. Prime wasn’t inside _his_ head; it was more like the other way around. Even then, that descriptor felt wrong. Hordak wasn’t spying on Prime’s thoughts; he could tell even without knowing that his brother’s consciousness was not present; the memories he was experiencing were entirely empty, vacant of any consciousness. It felt more as though he himself _was_ Prime, experiencing it all just as the Horde’s fallen leader had all those centuries ago.

Hordak hated everything about it; the way ‘his’ clones looked at him with a mix of adoration and unacknowledged fear; the way ‘his’ body arrogantly lounged in his seat, treating the destruction of a civilisation as so much light entertainment; it made him sick. Clenching his fist, he willed himself to bear it; he had to keep searching until he found the information they needed. If this experience enabled him to undo even one of his sins, it was worth all the discomfort. He turned his thoughts to the portal device, trying his best to probe Prime’s memories for anything useful.

“How is he doing?” Bow asked Entrapta as she scampered from screen to screen, checking everything from the machinery’s condition to Hordak’s vital readings.

“I’m getting some elevated stress responses, but that’s to be expected” Entrapta replied, failing to keep the nerves out of her tone. “I have no way of telling how well he’s able to navigate Prime’s memories, but at least the process doesn’t seem to be putting excessive strain on his own brain.”

A sharp intake of breath from behind her made her spin around on the spot. Hordak had shot awake, and was now pulling the cable from his neural port with a frustrated expression on his face.

“Hordak!” she yelled, rushing to his side “are you okay?”

“I am fine Entrapta” he grunted “but I was unable to find anything of use in this particular vessel. We shall have to move on to the next one.”

“Wait, you already searched through every memory?” Glimmer enquired. “But you were only in there for a couple of minutes.”

“Brains work a lot faster than the conscious mind can perceive” Entrapta offered, lifting her fingers as though she had the explanation pre-rehearsed. “What would take us weeks to sift through while awake can be done almost instantaneously in the mindscape!”

“Oh… well, that’s good at least” Glimmer replied, frankly out of her depth. “At least that means this won’t take _too_ , too long, right?”

“Correct” Hordak replied “though given the quantity of clones in this section, it is still a substantial workload, so I should continue as soon as possible. Entrapta, if you would?”

Things went much the same for the next couple of days or so (the lack of a day/night cycle on the ship made it difficult to tell). Hordak gradually worked his way through row after row of vessels, discovering enough knowledge to keep Etheria’s scientists and scholars busy for generations, but finding little of use on building a portal device. After every unsuccessful link he would wake up irritated, but all the more determined to continue. And so it was, after another busy day, that Entrapta, Bow, and Glimmer once again found themselves sitting around an unconscious Hordak, waiting on his latest results.

“Urgh, how many things did Horde Prime forget over the years!” Glimmer exclaimed from inside her sleeping bag as Bow handed her a ration bag.

“More than most of us will know in our lives” Entrapta answered absent-mindedly, her attention still on the screen bearing the unconscious Hordak’s vitals.

“Most?” Glimmer asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, I hope to know everything someday” Entrapta shrugged “though I would hope that I’ll be able to come up with a more efficient storage system.”

Before Glimmer could formulate a rebuttal to that latest piece of Entrapta weirdness, Hordak shot awake with a gasp. Unplugging the cable from his neck, he spun around to face Glimmer.

“Hordak, what is it?” she asked. “Do you have something?”

“Yes” Hordak exclaimed in an almost excited tone. “I saw all of it. I saw Prime’s memories from when the Horde’s portal technology was developed. He was present as the machinery was conceptualised, constructed… even tested for the first time. I had no idea that so much of the knowledge required had been scavenged from conquered worlds but… I believe I now know enough to create a similar device.”

“Hordak that’s… that’s amazing!” Glimmer exclaimed, this time allowing herself to pull Hordak into a hug, awkwardness be damned. “Thank you so much for this!”

“Do not thank me yet” Hordak responded as he extricated himself from Glimmer’s grip. “Constructing and fine-tuning the device will be a lengthy process. We cannot afford for a single calculation to be off, lest we suffer a repeat of the last portal failure.”

Everyone present collectively shuddered at the shared unpleasant memory. “Say no more” said Glimmer. “Take as much time as you need. I don’t want to risk Etheria, or my mom, by rushing this. It may take a while, but know you three can pull it off.”

Bow, Entrapta and Hordak exchanged a determined nod, as Bow wrapped his arm around Glimmer’s shoulder. “Then let’s not hang around in this creepy place any longer” he grinned. “We’ve got work to do.”

The group packed up Entrapta’s equipment as quickly as they could, their earlier lethargy having vanished in the face of their success. As happy as they all were to have taken a step forwards in their plan, they were equally happy to be leaving Prime’s ship behind. Before long, they were all back aboard Darla, ready and eager to get back to Etheria.

“Everyone strapped in?” Bow shouted from the pilot’s chair.

“We’re good back here!” Glimmer yelled with a smile. Bow fired up Darla’s engines, and the ship disengaged from the Velvet Glove’s docking bay with a clunk that reverberated through the entire bridge. Glimmer brought up a rear view on her console, so as to watch the giant tree shrink into the distance. It was in a low enough orbit that it would was visible even from Etheria’s surface, but it was reassuring just to see it far enough away as to not fill the entire sky.

As Darla descended into Etheria’s atmosphere, the sky outside turned from black to blue. Glimmer felt her heart grow lighter as the rolling fields and forests became visible below, and, before long, Brightmoon Castle itself. The ship touched down on the same balcony from which it had lifted off, and Glimmer was surprised to see an entourage there to greet them. Mica, Adora, Catra, and a slew of Brightmoon guards were stood awaiting their arrival. Glimmer glanced over to Bow, who shot a cheeky smile back; the sweetheart must have called ahead to make sure their arrival was expected.

The ship’s doors hissed open, but Glimmer had no need of them. She teleported right outside, into the waiting arms of her welcoming party.

“So, what did we miss?” She asked Adora with a smirk.

“Oh, y’know, nothing much” her friend chuckled. “We checked in on some of the other kingdoms; the usual. Your space missions sounds way more interesting. How did it go up there?”

Glimmer decided not to pry into what she’d just heard; Adora would talk about it when she was ready. Besides, she was too eager to gush about the P.A.L.S’ progress. “Oh, it went great” she began. “Bow and the others have a little project planned. Walk with me; I’ll tell you _all_ about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, remember when I said I wanted to get this chapter out within a week of the first one xD? Sorry about the delay, but I hope you were all still able to enjoy this story. I'm planning on doing more stories in this series at some point, but I know better than to put a date on them now, I hope you'll stick around for whatever I get around to next!

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I last posted anything. I got a full time job since I posted my last story, and it's been difficult to find the motivation to do anything once I get home every day besides flop in front of a computer. Finally managed to get this one out though. This story will probably only be two chapters long, with the second chapter hopefully coming out within the next week or so. Thanks for reading!


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